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Miami-Dade Urged To Accelerate Climate Change Plan

MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – A South Florida task force is urging officials to take climate change into consideration by speeding up adaptation planning.

Sea level rise is, according to the Miami-Dade Sea Level Rise Task Force, a "measurable, trackable and relentless reality."

The task force issued its recommendations earlier this week. The county commission created the task force a year ago to develop a report on sea level rise.

According to the report, rising sea levels threaten trillions of dollars of development and the region's water supply, natural resources and agriculture. Task force members noted that parts of Miami-Dade County already are experiencing localized flooding attributed to sea level rise.

The task force's top recommendation is to accelerate planning for climate change adaptations by hiring engineers and other experts "not just to update, but in a sense, to reinvent our urban infrastructure."

(TM and © Copyright 2014 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2013 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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